Do Revenge

 

                                I can't honestly tell you my choices on what lead me to this bizarre but good movie, and God's truth I really can't explain it to you I'm not joking around when I say that I can't honestly explain how this movie came into my watchlist. Though I'll do the best I can at explaining it because, well it's my job per say. I guess the best way I can describe me finding this movie I was probably binging on YouTube of House of the Dragon and for some reasons search related stuff of Sophie Turner aka Sansa Stark showed up where she overacts about cocaine and for some bizarre sense of reason I had, I simply couldn't stop watching this I wanted to study this. For which lead me all the way to Netflix, Do Revenge is what I like to call as the stepsister to Promising Young Woman combined with Alfred Hitchcock's Strangers on a Train and with a kiss of Clueless. I will say, I was a little iffy on whether to continue watching this movie through, mainly because this was a teen movie and anything teen related wasn't my forte great example trying to get through Friday Night Lights show then desperately erasing it from my mind. But there was something about this movie that impress me in ways I couldn't imagine. Oh, and Sarah Michelle Gellar is in this movie too.

                                Popular Drea (Camila Mendes) wants revenge on her boyfriend for publishing her sex tape, and exchange student Eleanor (Maya Hawke, whose parents just so happen to be Uma Thurman and Ethan Hawke) is haunted by a rumor. The two teenagers team up to act against their tormentors.

                                I will tell you the truth on why majority of teen films or shows are officially not my cup of tea. Sure, as a teenager I was huge into watching Smallville secretly watching parts of Bring It On, or watching Varsity Blues because of Ali Larter, but now being 35 years of age and looking at movies like Friday Night Lights or even the show itself I've began to realize that none of these so called teen movies are as good as I want's remembered and moreover felt like their a high school reunion and after years of being away realizing how awful being a teen was moreover for seeing how stupid people can be, now granted I didn't mention Mean Girls, but let’s be honest that movie has Lindsey Lohan before she went super crazy. Though it also had a lot to do with illogic scenarios of decision making like when James Van Der Beek never punching his dad in the face all because he's not taking football seriously, or the insanely dumb love triangle in Friday Night Lights show, where the Cheerleader cheats on her QB boyfriend for the rebellious Fullback friend then when the QB gets back with his cheerleader girlfriend cheats on her with another girl. And I'm not joking just these types of issues alone and I know this sounds insanely dark, but it makes me want to go back in time and shoot up my old high school, sorry not sorry. In god's honest truth, when I go into a movie like this I got to see what the writer and director brings to the game, moreover with a teen movie like this that has some dark comedy you really need to bring your A-game to the table, Jennifer Kaytin Robinson does in outstanding job in creating a twisted world where all of these prep school snobs can get away with so much murder than Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump, what research I found of Ms. Robinson was that she started off her writing career creating a show for MTV call Sweet/Vicious about two college students becoming vigilantes on sexual abusers, so I can see where the subject matter comes in her work. Here's the funny thing, the entire cast is all in their mid-twenties to early thirties and for some bizarre way they all look like teens in this movie well, most of them because once you see Sophie Turner in the movie then it becomes a little funny that she's trying to be so young despite that she's thirty-five. Now, I should point out to everyone before you think about maybe wanting to watch this movie after reading my review I should point out that this film is one hundred percent fantasy, because in fair I may not have rich parents nor went to prep schools but I can tell that there is no way in hell that all of these high school kids can do God knows how much drug use or spreading more STD's than Magic Johnson had during Basketball career, though granted I thought it was humorous moreover liked the idea of spoiled teens trying to look at themselves in the mirror then some refusing too. For which I've kind of like the idea of one popular student who’s at the top of being popular in high school then suddenly turning into in outcast, then having the obsessions of revenge then realizing how low you've gone in terms of being a human. And to be fair when I was browsing through the plot on Wikipedia because I became weary of this being like Strangers on a Train, but once I've seen all of the twist and turns and most importantly the final act of the movie that's when I've started to like the film more because this whole movie is deep down a look in the mirror of one's soul and realize how much you don't see yourself or how much you wanted to build this perfect life then seeing it was all a lie, and the two important characters experience that moreover some of the supporting cast but the main antagonist is the one that doesn't nor refuse to see himself in the mirror, for which that's when I've began to see a lot of similarities with Do Revenge and Promising Young Woman the only difference is that this movie I really like the how the main villain got what he deserved at the end, and seeing how everything turns out in the end for the two important characters. I will say that this was a great movie find, moreover a great movie to watch and granted movies about teens in High School aren't my cup of tea, but there's something about this film that made me impressed in terms of the writing and the direction moreover the vision of these types of movies, hell I hope there's other movies out there that can impress me more. As for a recommendation I would highly recommend it but if you as the audience don't want to watch it on NetFlix, I can understand your reason.

Brian and the Boz

 

                        Well, we're during Football season and usually I'd hand out some football movies to recommend but there not like Baseball movies because let's be real the most famous football movies like Varsity Blues are ones, I can't stand so I'm going to try and limit the amount of football movies I can find but thankfully ESPN's 30 for 30 is a good place to look at some football movies to watch. And the story of Brian Bosworth is a quintessential and relatable story about having both a good side and a bad side when it comes to being a college football star. Also, this is a great modern-day story of a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.

                       For those who don't know who Brian Bosworth is, well a great example is he plays the sheriff on the Dr. Pepper commercials on the fictional world of Fansville. But he also was well known as an Oklahoma football legend who was excellent at his position as a middle linebacker but through the course of his three seasons in College Football, he let his mouth get the better of him for which led to the dismissal of him playing College Football then playing NFL. Though the more interesting aspect when it comes to Bosworth is that it wasn't the drugs (well a side from the steroid use) that lead to his downfall like Darryl Strawberry and Dwight Gooden, it was mostly his mouth plus his mullet that became most of his self-destructive behavior, moreover, throwing his entire teammates as well as his coach Barry Switzer under the bus by publishing his autobiography.  And in all honesty, I kind of look at his entire football career as a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde type persona where the man Brian Bosworth is clearly the Dr. Jekyll and the alter ego The Boz is without a doubt Mr. Hyde, and in all honesty that's really something you don't see every day of course but if this was ever made into a movie it would defiantly be like a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde type movie mixed with the Wolf of Wall Street. Though the other thing on what makes this a great story is you've kind of in a sense relate because he had in overbearing father that was proud of him but didn't show it in a very sensitive sense, so that's something in a sense that both Bosworth and Strawberry have in common that they both had terrible fathers, though that's something you shouldn't be proud of. But in the end, each of them found a way to get themselves out of the darkest moments. Now that Disney + has been putting more of the 30 for 30 into their category of sports related category? I'd defiantly give this a must see for your football needs and granted this is just my sense of humor kicking in, have your kids watching this because let’s be fair when they get to that age of puberty this is going to be a documentary for them when their ego will be more uncontrollably for anyone to contain. 

 

The Natural

 

                                      I know it's way too late to talk about Baseball since we're near the end of the season coming up on Baseball playoffs moreover everyone caring more about Football season. Though the big problem for me is that my two Football teams suck (Nebraska Football and Dallas Cowboys), also this year marks the final years end for St. Louis Cardinals legends Albert Pujols, Yadier Molina and Adam Wainwright furthermore in order to tell why I chose to watch The Natural now, I might as well go back to March. It was during the week of St. Patty’s Day and my week was like a train wreck from hell firstly my car was having problems moreover going to cost be big in terms of repairs also putting up with people at work, and the Academy Awards came along and as usual I had to sit through this mockery due to working at a TV station, and after work I heard what was the greatest news of my life. Albert Pujols was coming back to play for the Cardinals one final time and boy I never felt so happy in my entire life. For which to my time of sitting down and watching The Natural, for which now beginning to realize it know I began to see similarities with Roy Hobbs and both Pujols, Molina and Wainwright.   

                                      On the way to a tryout with the Chicago Cubs, young Roy Hobbs (Robert Redford) is shot by an unstable woman (Barbara Hershey). After 16 years, Hobbs returns to pro baseball as a rookie for a last place New York Knights. Despite early arguments with his manager Pop Fisher (Wilford Brimley, who may or may not have diabetes), Hobbs becomes one of the best players in the league, and the Knights start winning. But this upsets the owner (Robert Prosky), who wants Hobbs to lose games, not win. 

                                      In a very short summary review, there's really nothing much to say in my mind The Natural is defiantly in the top ten best of Baseball movies and as far as Robert Redford, this is defiantly one of his top-notch performances behind Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and All the President's men and the Sting too. A little fun fact Robert Redford is a big time Ted Williams and during the making of the film he insisted on wearing number 9 and batting third because that's where Williams batted, along with his catch phrase "there goes Roy Hobbs the best that ever was", though granted Redford had to take the Ted Williams part out but deep down you can see the resemblance. I will say yeah there's a lot of questions in terms of logic like Michael Madsen running into the outfield and dying which, I'd guess it was because he angered Wonder Boy? Though director Barry Levison did state that the film in a sense is fantasy so we can defiantly scratch that part but through the years he told Bob Costas “Through the years, these outlandish things actually happened, like Kirk Gibson hitting a home run and limping around the bases, Curt Schilling with the blood on the sock in the World Series". While writing this review I began to realize that "oh dude" both Pujols, Molina and Wainwright both share in interesting comparison with the character of Roy Hobbs via memories I cherish. And the best way to start off those cherish memories is basically starting off with Adam Wainwright, in the first scene or flashback scene we see Roy Hobbs striking out Joe Don Baker whose supposed to be this Babe Ruth type character, well that scene just reminded me alone of the 2006 NLCS, when he faced off with the Mets power hitter Carlos Beltran and since Izzy (Jason Isringhousen) wasn't able to close, rookie pitcher Adam Wainwright came up in the crucial moments and struck out Beltran to send the Cardinals to the World Series. The best way I can compare both Roy Hobbs and Yadier Molina is they're both clutch hitters, and yes I'm referring to in the final game of the movie where Roy Hobbs hits the game winning home run to win the game, but one great example is of course the NLCS against the Mets in 06, and of all rookie's besides Wainwright, catching sensation Yadier Molina steps up in the crucial moments and give the Cardinals a chance to win over the Mets, and in all honesty that wasn't the only clutch moment Yadi did as I remember watching him in 2016 against the Reds in a crucial moment when the bases where fully loaded with Cardinals and all it took was a hit by a pitch to win the game, furthermore that's why I depict him as one of the Greatest Catchers of All Time because no matter what when it comes to those crucial moments Molina delivers and if you don't believe me I'll give you another great memory, and that's when he hit a sack fly in the 2019 NLDS to advance us to game 5 against the Braves, man was I ever jumping for joy just like he was when he threw his bat and helmet. Albert Pujols was easy in terms of comparing him to Hobbs, Albert to me is single handily one of the greatest hitters the Cardinals has ever produced, and I can back it up with the walk of homer in 2005 against the Astro's in NLCS, blasting a home run off of Verlander in game 1 of the 2006 World Series I mean the list goes on, I mean I could also talk about the most memorable moment is when he came back to St. Louis as an Angel in game 2 of the series and he hits a home run and everyone in Busch Stadium was just going nuts including my family and nephew. And granted the list goes on and on including my brother having me watch him hit number 3,000 and Albert reaching the goal of 700 home runs, so in fairness there's a lot of ways to compare Albert to Roy Hobbs but the only difference Pujols doesn't need a special bat to become the greatest hitter of all time. Now, with all portraying three Cardinals greats I consider heroes of mine especially when it comes to Baseball, I do consider The Natural in the category of go to Baseball films to watch, despite it being a while since I've watched it, the film really lifts you up inside in a very strange way even I can't explain moreover I'd rank this in the top ten greatest Baseball films of all time.

        

September Recommendation: The Princess

 

                                      I'm aware that this film came out about two months ago but granted when I saw the trailer for this movie (which is on Hulu as seen on the poster) I kind of looked at this film as nothing special, nor anything exciting. Unfortunately, it was a night where I couldn't find a movie to watch, though I did find an original Solaris film that was re-made by George Clooney a long time ago, sadly though it was all spoken in Russian, and I really didn't have the strength nor energy to watch it full so luckily The Princess won for a chance to exceed my low expectations. Even though that this was something of a mindless action film, I honestly did not expect the way it was going, and the way it was constructed moreover the way it was in terms of length of the film that's when I was thinking to myself that we have a winner for the best mindless action film of 2022 and worthy of my recommendation for the month of September.

                                      The Princess is a 2022 American period action film directed by Le-Van Kiet. The film stars Joey King, Dominic Cooper, Olga Kurylenko, and Veronica Ngo. The Princess was released as an original Hulu film, July 1 of 2022.

                                       Now, I'll say before I really had no interest in wanting to watch this movie the day it came out for many reasons that first seeing the trailer it looked like a predictable mindless action film where I can tell where it obviously was going to turn out. So, while watching the first act of the film I slowly begin to realize why this film is awesome, see the first part of the movie the Princess is locked away she wakes up noticing she's in chains then begins to realize that her father's kingdom is taken hostage. That's when the light bulb popped on top of my head and realized that this is a DIE HARD! That's right they literally combined one of the greatest Christmas movies of all time with a period piece, for which I have to give props to writers Ben Lustig and Jake Thornton for combining these two ingenious ideas, moreover I almost picture them sitting around a couch either watching Game of Thrones on TV during Christmas time, then switching it over to Die Hard then maybe watching the 90's Mortal Kombat, they both called each other on the phone and said that we should combine Period piece meets Die Hard, and they both have a mind blown experience and each other say's it's going to be awesome mostly five times and then the other says "wait dude, dude, DUDE!", "we should also incorporate some martial arts fight sequences too", then they both just go full throttle, over joyed on how awesome there idea is turning out to be. What even makes this movie awesome is the fact it doesn't mess around with the storyline it just goes from point A to point B and C very quickly and so this movie lone is a great example of what makes a great mindless action movie is the fact that it's ninety-four minutes long which in real standards that's a perfect length for a typical mindless action film is moreover it also doesn't overstay it's welcome and for a film that's completely and utterly ridiculous, well let's just say that's a perfect length for what it is. The newcomer Joey King does a great job playing the title role, but Dominic Cooper really does in excellent job playing the villain in the movie too, although I'd wish he had a better send off, not as good as Alan Rickman's send off. A side from its many, many flaws The Princess is a perfect B-Action movie of 2022, for a movie that doesn't overstay it's welcome gets straight to the point deserves my recommendation for the month of September. 

         

Vengeance

 

                                     To all fans of the Office, Ryan Howard has made his directorial debut. also known as B.J. Novak, has finally come out of the shadows of Steve Carrell, Brad Pitt, John Krasinski, and Quentin Tarantino furthermore has officially made a movie for himself. And to make a crime drama/comedy are always a dime of dozen when it comes to making your big leap into the director’s chair. Vengeance is basic Black Comedy with a spin of both a detective story and in all out revenge but trying to make big story turned into a podcast phenomenon. As always stars B.J. Novak, Boyd Holbrook who is in a lot of things some are basic crime stories, and Ashton Kutcher who plays the unlikely character I've never in a million years would have thought he'd pulled off in the best way possible.

                                     An up-and-coming Podcaster/Journalist (B.J. Novak) goes to a funeral in Texas to mourn a loss of a woman he only had a one-night stand. But is suddenly pulled into this revenge quest of evidence that has no lead, though doesn't stop him from making this no lead story into a Podcast sensation.

                                     For a lot of people who don't know who, B.J. Novak is, though technically for Office fans, he's Ryan Howard, though he also was one of the original writers of the show that both writes and is one of the main cast of characters on the show, he stared in some supporting roles like Inglorious Bastards, Saving Mr. Banks and The Founder. When watching the trailer for the first time my first thoughts were aw cool, he's finally going into the spotlight then my second thought was of course this movie was intriguing because I love the fact that it's a New York Journalist whose kind of on the Blue Statesman and he travels to the Red State of Texas to investigate a murder that's in obvious open and shut case, but suddenly becomes more than what you can possible believe. And Novak does a fantastic job doing the research on the state of Texas and its people, but most importantly doing a great job in turning this into a original detective story as well. I've never really, well ever in my years of criticizing pop culture along with movies and TV shows have I ever given any compliments to the success of Ashton Kutcher because let’s face it Punk'd was an entertaining show for when I was still a teenager, and all his movies are just pure crap, so bottom line what I'm trying to say is that he's only remembered for was Kelso in That 70's Show. But this is probably the first time ever I watch in on TV and say that he does a great job playing a mysterious fellow that has some skeletons in his closest, and this is me completely forgetting that he was in the trailer. Without giving any details this is a movie worth seeing from start to finish, the movie does have a great sense of humor as well as the family of the movie being relatable as towards your real-life family in general. B.J. Novak does in excellent job in his directorial debut as well as the writer and star of the movie, and I hope he does more movies in futures to come.

          

Robin and the 7 Hoods

 

                                So, this is a long story I'm not sure I can reasonably explain in the best way possible. So, my brother told me about this song Mr. Booze, that both Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and Sammy Davis Jr, may have written? Anyway, and what I found funny and yet interesting about the song other than it was also used on an episode of Family Guy, was that it’s a bit on the modern side and you can also think about other ways to make this song work in the new generation, for which leads to this movie, Robin and the 7 Hoods, which is a Musical from which I've accepted that no matter what when it comes to Musical's don't accept logic. Although yes, I did give this movie a shot but, in all fairness, I never quite expect how bizarre and in all out confused on what the purpose this film was supposed to be, or in a most honest way of explaining things not a great movie I'd recommend.

                                 Robin and the 7 Hoods is a 1964 American Musical film directed by Gordon Douglas and staring Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr, and Bing Crosby. The Picture features Peter Faulk, Barbara Rush, and an uncredited Edward G. Robinson.

                                  Throughout my years of watching movies, I've begun to understand when it comes to logic in Musicals, there's basically no such thing, which explains why both The Wizard of Oz, Meet Me in St. Louis and Jesus Christ Superstar are my only three favorite musicals’ because they at least have logic. This was one of the many few musicals I can point at and say I don't ever want to watch this film ever again. At first the film seemed promising but through the course of the songs, all I just wanted to see was the Mr. Booze singing. Even watching this movie whole, I still didn't understand what this film was marketed for though in fairness this was supposed to be a spoof of gangster movies, but this just seemed bad on so many levels. And this movie came out in 1964 just two years after Sinatra's best performance in The Manchurian Canidae, for which I still and while writing this review don't understand why he would make something that's so bad. Although in researching this movie I've heard that production was kind of hell for him due to that his close friend President John F. Kennedy being killed, and Frank's son being kidnapped and held for ransom only weeks later, in which yeah I can understand that the man was going through some rough times while making a movie but, this is just me saying this you can always close down production and take couple of months off but again that's just my opinion. What really bothered me about the movie was that this was in fact a spoof of gangster films while using a Robin Hood spin on the story but this doesn't really follow in a Robin Hood story would tell, for example the female character of maid Marriam wants revenge on her father but she never found her killer nor even cared and Sinatra's character is supposed to be this Robin Hood type figure but he's also a horrible person who didn't want the money Marriam gave him so he threw it to in orphanage and that somehow makes him a hero? And at the end of the movie, they basically don't find any justice for the Big Jim character who’s supposed to be this father figure to Frank Sinatra's character. Either way this was one of the many movies I can look at and say that this is just bad on so many levels, and what's disappointing is that I purchased this movie on my phone and now I must live with it. So, listen if you’re thinking about wanting to watch this film I would strongly suggest running away and save yourself, this film is not worth seeing. 

     

Black Widow

 

                                Just another day, well technically nighttime I had nothing better to do other than having to sort out my Baseball cards morally putting them back in my card book. Although with all that sorting I had to find something to ignore and mostly try watching. Well thankfully Scarlett Johansson's Black Widow on Disney +, like watching Eternals this was another movie on my Disney + account that was on the continue watching list while sorting out my baseball card collection. Although I had no interest in seeing this movie while back mainly because this came out a year before Avengers: Endgame's release and in all honesty, I found less interest in watching a movie that was set after the events of Captain America: Civil War, so in fairness you can catch my reason as to why I didn't have a full interest in wanting to watch this movie prior to the film’s release. But, as fate would have it moreover needing to put my baseball card collection back in order, I decided to put this movie on.

                                Again, the film is set after the events of Captain America: Civil War, Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) goes into hiding but is stalked by a mysterious assassin with ties to her past. Black Widow soon learns that she needs to go back to the past she left behind and burn it all to the ground.

                                Out of all the Avengers characters from the MCU, Black Widow was indeed one of those characters I cared about, but part of the problem was no doubt that the film was released a year before Avengers: Endgame was released and seeing that her character was killed off, I really didn't have in interest in wanting to watch a movie in which she finally gets her debut movie furthermore knowing her fate. Granted if this film came out during the Phase Three era, I would think differently but, it's already happened so now I can't really say much about the film. I will not say much about Johansson's performance because there's really nothing to say she's a natural and there really no one in a million years that can play the original Black Widow. But what I kind of find laughable is her ability the take her character as a female Jason Bourne where she literally doesn't have any broken bones or legs or the arms, and yes I'm talking about the action sequence in Budapest where she and her sister is outrunning the other Black Widow's and she fell and didn't broke any other bones, granted that wasn't the only one we can also talk about the sequence where she blew up the Black Widow base and she was doing her best Superman flying while outsmarting the Taskmaster. And to be fair my complements I can give to this films credit is the action sequences that were unintentionally funny and especially when you watch something where the Action sequences are just to ridicules moreover doesn't look at all realistic that's when you must chuckle on its utter nonsense. The other problem I also have with the movie as well is that they were using characters from the Marvel Universe that were a complete waste, give you a great example both Red Guardian and Taskmaster, and hearing that there was a Russian Super Soldier is just such disappointing because this would of been a great villain or rival towards Captain America that they could of at least use in the Captain America movies, I mean it would of been awesome if the two of them worked together and fought Red Skull, but know they didn't use him nor had a thought of using him so now this probably the only time will ever see a Russian Super Soldier in any of the upcoming MCU films, so again just a wasted opportunity. And the same goes with Taskmaster, whose supposed to be the assassin that basically fighting a mirror version of the hero's self and this character was as I felt, a wasted opportunity because again he would of made an excellent criminal mastermind where he tries to manipulate the Avengers and the only ones who can stop them where Thor, Hulk and Iron Man, but again I can say so many things on to what would be better to use these characters but in the end there's really no use because the more your brain wants to fix these movies, the more you go insane and that's not healthy. A side from the laughable action sequences and Scarlett Johansson being the only Black Widow in the movie with an English accent and her fellow supporting cast has Russian accents for which again I'm keeping my distance because again if you can fix what's broken, insanity kicks in. But back to topic this is one of those films that it's fine to watch once while you’re keeping your place clean or doing laundry but in all honesty, I don't think I would ever want to watch this film ever again. 

       

A League of their Own: TV series

 

                              Okay, so it was like this I found out Amazon was doing a League of their Own TV show, granted I wasn't really all that interested but my mom was somewhat interested and asked me to sit down and watch the first episode with her. And of course, I did, mainly because I didn't have anything better to do, and this might not be that bad. Unfortunately, after watching the first episode Mom and I called it good, reasons why we both in a sense called a lesbian love story in the works for which makes sense because the co-creator was Bi-Sexual and one of the directors also directed Lesbian films. But the main reason I picked up throughout this show is mostly this was really nothing anything original especially when they made the same scenes from the original film. The other reasons, they crammed so many characters in this show, and I'm assuming they did that because they were not going to be renewed for a second season. And will get to that later. 

                               The show itself is set in 1943, for which begun the formation of the All-Girls Baseball League, almost like the movie, where some of the story line centers on whether this league would last long or not, or will America accept this as Baseball or not, with a bit of a coming out love story if you know what I mean.

                                 Now as a first time viewing a show like this, I didn't mind the whole Lesbian love story for which is where a married woman falls for another woman on the team. And I can tell you the honesty truth it didn't bug me much other than I kind of predicted that would happen because let's be real when you’re in an all-girls baseball league there would be times when you find out you like girls. Okay, enough of my lame comedic jokes (or whatever) as the creator's should do because it's new generations when you can take these kinds of risks, though on the other hand my mom didn't like that for which I understand her reasons because she was a sixties-seventies gal with religious background so in fairness I get where she's coming from. The real problem I have with the show is that they crammed way to man characters in this show for starters they introduced the black female ballplayer way to early and this was 1943, for which yeah I'm pretty sure some of them wanted to try out but the problem is, that we've seen that and really if your planning on doing more seasons wouldn't it make a lot more sense to use that character concept for when they reach the 1947 season when Jackie Robinson broke the Color barrier? I'm just saying if you’re expanding the story of the girl’s baseball league you should at least save that story line or set it in 1947. The other problem I have with it is that the recreate scenes that where just out of the original film, for which sure nobody ever remembers the original movie but I can count at least two scenes where they recreate scenes from the original movie, for which is fine and all because again I'd bet nobody has seen the original movie but in all fairness you should really separate yourself from the original movie and stay more focus in making this your own show. I'm confident that the show alone will be loved by millions in fact it's showing great promise by everyone, but as a show itself I believe that this a lecture for all men who didn't appreciate the women of today nor the women who appreciated the women's baseball. But in all honesty, I'm a man who believes God created men and women equal and so if I really want a lecture I'd go to church and hear what God has to say. So, in closing if you’re in for a show like this I would avoid it but if you loved the original movie, I'd say go crazy.

   

The Harder They Fall

 

                                       This is the second time in my life where I screamed at the TV and said F**K YOU, while watching a movie. Though granted this was by accident. The Harder They Fall is one of those films that has promise of greatness and looks to be intriguing when you watch the trailer and see Idris Elba's face on screen, moreover the Netflix main menu screen. But then you begin to see that this film is not what you think it is and you slowly see that it's not all promising and at times, boring. Now, I'm a huge Western's fan been one my whole life started off with the Great John Wayne classic’s and loved watching any modern-day Western's like 3:10 to Yuma and Django Unchained. But, with this film it seems like the director James Samuel aka The Bullitts has never seen a Western and if he had, he obviously doesn't know what the audience wants when it comes to making a Western movie.

                                       When an outlaw discovers his enemy is being released from prison, he reunites his gang to seek revenge.

                                        It's a real complicated thing to talk about when you’re making a genre that has been around for a long time and is very traditional. I guess what I'm trying to explain is when you make a western you must follow certain laws of what makes a western movie or show work, and one of those examples is to tell the harshness of what makes westerns work, the theme. Westerns often stress the harshness and isolation of the wilderness, and frequently set the action in an arid, desolate landscape. Western films generally have specific settings, such as isolated ranches, Native American villages or small frontier towns with a saloon. Now granted this film has all of these aspects when it comes to making a western story it has revenge story, it provides constant small towns with a saloon's and it has some real life outlaws for which I've never heard of for which I give compliments, but the thing that throws me off about the film is that it’s more of a talking western than it is a traditional western, and sure you can say Quentin Tarantino changed some laws of Western genre but he was a student to Western films he took constant notes on what makes them great. This film is an example of more talk and less action, will lose some of your audience. Though granted there is some action in the film but very few of it, and I didn't realize it until I finally got to the maybe second act (I couldn't tell in all truthfulness) and there was about forty minutes to go, then I started to feel bored with the movie. And it really wasn't just the length of the film, it was also more of the characters making not so smart decisions in situations in which you'd get caught or taken hostage, and that's one of the rare few times I began to question in the films potential. And sure there are some action sequences but there were times I can look at an action sequence and tell that its predictable and the final shootout was a clear example of predictable and this was Outlaw against Outlaw, there shouldn't been any honorable motives among another outlaw there really should be no mercy especially one scene were both gals unload their guns and duke it out, in all honesty I was kind of hoping they would out least just unload their gun on their challenger when they realized they just lost. Now, I'm sorry if I am spoiling details in the ending of the movie but this was one of those twists that threw me out of it, just like Batman: Gotham by Gaslight, where the twist ending seemed stupid on so many levels. So, in the final confrontation of the movie, you'd think there would be a quick draw duel between our protagonist and Idris Elba, but of course we didn't get that, no we just have Elba in a monologue talking about his past and his father, AND THEN he reveals that him and the protagonist of the movie ARE BROTHERS! Which I was like OH HELL NO, moreover screaming F**K YOU, and I'm sorry but it's one of those things I couldn't accept because for starters it was way too late in the movie to address they both had the same father also when you have a final confrontation between the good guy and bad guy you have to have a quick draw duel, that's just simple as that we have to root for the protagonist till the very end but really when it came to this movie I just lost interest in every one of the characters in the movie. I give James Samuel some credit at least he had some good ideas made a good soundtrack, but when it comes to directing and telling a story in the old west, you must have a lot of action sequences and story motives to follow your good guys till the very end, and most importantly "show, don't tell" that’s really one of the golden rules to follow when you’re making a movie like this. I can't say that this was the worst movie I've seen because in all honesty I've seen far worst movies than this, but I would consider this one of the most boring films I've seen, deep down this film has some interesting ideas I like the fact that they have in all-star African American cast but the story itself just falls flat on itself after the first twenty minutes of the movie till the very end.  

      

August Recommendation: Hangmen also Die!

 

                             Well ladies and gentlemen I've finally come back from a long and needed vacation, not just saying it was a well needed day off all the madness around the world, but it was most needed. Though as luck would have it, I've finally took some time in finding some contenders for my August Recommendation, it went down with a horror film about being all by yourself and a World War II film noir, set in Czechoslovakia. Though it was my mom and Dad that got me into this great film noir set in World War II Czech. My Mom through her parents’ history came from a Czech background, with a lot of memories growing up through the years including WWII. So, like every movie guy would do I decided to finally take the time and watch this surprisingly great movie, directed by Fritz Lang, who I need to investigate tells the story of a real-life assassination on a Nazi officer who was an architect on the Holocaust, for which goes to great lengths of one Nazi death but trying to save countless lives of Czech citizens in retaliation.

                            During the Nazi occupation of Czechoslovakia, insurgent Franticek Svoboda (Brian Donlevy) assassinates the brutal German leader Reinhard Heydrich (Hans Heinrich von Twardowski). Svoboda escapes with the aid of a History Professor Stephan Novotny (Walter Brennan), but Novotny is then captured, along with 400 other Czechs, through the machinations of Nazi sympathizer Emil Czaka (Gene Lockhart). The Czech prisoners are then told that if Svoboda does not surrender, they will be executed.

                            One of the many films that blends perfectly with both World War II genre of film and the darkest worlds of film noir. What makes this film amazing and cleverly drawn, is that there's no good guy in this whole movie though granted the Czech Resistance is the good guy but there using extreme measures in terms of keeping their resistance a secret, moreover Hangmen also Die is more of a survivalist story of fighting a Nazi Regime while hiding in the shadows. To give a little brief history of the film, the movie is loosely based on the assassination of Reinhard Heydrich who was a number two man in the SS, moreover, was the chief mastermind behind the Holocaust though in real life he was assassinated Czech Resistance fighters who parachuted from a British plane in Operation Anthropoid. What also gives this film credit is that it was made during the wake of Heydrich's death during World War II, moreover, is a hand full of movies that show Hollywood not being afraid during that era to tell stories that happened in WW II. Fritz Lang director of the film was born in Vienna, Austria-Hungary around 1890, and lived majority of his life in the waking horrors of what Germany did during most of his life. When he arrived in Hollywood, Lang had been involved in the creation of the Hollywood Anti-Nazi League, for which he made four Anti-Nazi themed films including Hangmen also Die! And with this film Lang does such a great job establishing the world of Occupied Czechoslovakia where there is no reasoning with the Nazi's and even if you go to them, they will make your lives worse than they can possibly make it, during that time. Furthermore, Lang does a good job in not holding back any of the punches when it comes to the Nazi's brutalities in the film moreover does a great job with the third act in a way, I don't want to spoil it for anyone, though all I can say now I'm glad to of watch on of the first of many Fritz Lang's work and now in the hunt for finding more films he's made. I don't want to spoil anymore details about this great film, but it's an amazing gripping tale about having to make huge sacrifices in order to fight a regime that almost seemed unbeatable, and I would highly recommend watching this great film to anyone who’s big in both film noir and World War II films.

 

July Recommendation: Dark City

 

                                   July is the third installment in what I like to call Awesome 90's Trilogy. While May consist of the true Action/Adventure (The Mask of Zorro) movie we've been missing deeply, June was the f**ked up but funny film that was ahead of its time (The Truman Show), July is the monthly recommendation where it blends film noir and phycological thriller aka Dark City, a movie that tells honestly to your face that your life was a lie and trippy aliens are your puppet masters who play with your strings all day long. People sometimes compare this Sci-Fi classic to The Matrix for which now re-watching this movie I don't really see the resemblance other than robots taking over the world and Aliens somehow taking a hand full of humans and using them as puppets but will have to leave that for another discussion. Anyway, this is another one of these films that continues my huge crush on Jennifer Connelly who if you weren't a 90's kid, that woman was the Rita Hayworth of beautiful women in the 90's. So, let's all sleep now and explore the twisted world of Dark City.

                                   John Murdoch (Rufus Sewell) awakens alone in a strange hotel to find that he was wanted for a series of brutal murders. The problem is that he can't remember whether he committed the murders or not. For one moment, he is convinced that he's gone completely mad. Murdoch seeks to unravel the twisted riddle of his identity. As he edges closer to solving the mystery, he stumbles upon a fiendish underworld controlled by a group of ominous beings collectively known as the Strangers.

                                   A lot of people always compare this film to The Matrix, for which I beg to differ mainly because The Matrix is mostly like a cyberpunk science fiction film where they're telling us how corporations are running are natural way of life, and the Agents or the robots are trying to keep everything in order of things. Dark City, I look at this great film as a look of the human mind, and what happens when you wake up to the horror that you’re a guinea pig for an alien experiment. And to be truthfully honest, Dark City has one of the best storylines than it does with the Matrix, for many reasons it starts off in the best way possible, the protagonist wakes up with no memory of what happened and is chased by a group of telekinetic race of Aliens who use this mysterious world as a way to experiment on humans and Rufus Sewell's character is trying to clear his name from a murder he knows is not true while understanding what world he's been living in. Now, how they came to kidnap the humans how they came in existence who knows, all you need to know is that it’s a film that has a simple concept that goes from point A to point B and Point C by the end of the frame. Moreover, the entire film explains itself all within 1 hour and 51 minutes for which really that's the perfect length of a movie you need to have in your movie furthermore if you can make statistics and what makes a perfect Science fiction film Star Wars and Dark City are among those categories. The other thing on what makes this film amazing is that it also incorporates a film noir feel to the film where there's is a hero in the film but the shadowy figures are these stranger like aliens that have a way of screwing with the humans mind though is also set in a dark like New York City that feels like it’s in the 1940's decade to it, and really all of the credit goes to writer/director Alex Proyas, who made it clear in an article talking about the concept of the film "One of the things that we're exploring in this film, is what it is that makes us who we are. And, when you strip an individual of his identity, is there some spark, some essence there that keeps them being human, gives them some sort of identity?" Even Proyas referenced film noirs from the 1940's and 1950's as an influence for the film, also adding science fiction along for the ride as well as to have an element of horror to unsettle the audience, for which I view as smart thinking on his part. The best way to describe Rufus Sewell's career is my first film I was introduced to him was Bless the Child where he played a villain in that movie and A Knight's Tale, we he as well played a bad guy also and let’s not forget the Illusionist basically a cheap imitation to the Prestige. So, in all fairness the first three films I've seen Sewell in were basically antagonist roles this is one of the few films I've actually seen him in where he plays a good guy, and he does a great job playing a man whose both confused and scared at the same time but is also in observer when he begins to understand where he is and is trying to search for answers as to what really happened to his life. In all honesty I don't know how many times I can talk about my crush on Jennifer Connelly because in all honesty, I'll give you at least two to three movies and that's basically shows off her Rita Hayworth side, and that's Dark City, The Rocketeer and for fun I'm going to throw in Top Gun: Maverick, but with this film she does such a great job using her looks to mesmerize the audience especially when she's first introduced singing Sway and she just knocks it out of the park but also doing a splendid job of playing the worried wife because as we all know you have to have that love connection with the protagonist and the lead female and both Rufus Sewell do a great job in this movie. I've always remembered Kiefer Sutherland always playing like the sort of tough guy in certain movies like I don't know maybe The Three Musketeers, add A Few Good Men and let's not forget his most notable TV role in 24, but with this movie he plays a man whose one both sides of the coin and is somewhat disabled but also explains to the protagonist and the audience of what is going on, though sure I do believe he was an excellent bad guy in Phone Booth, but he also does a great job playing the deranged mad scientist who is a guide of Dark City. I also should add one actor in the film, and that's the main antagonist aka Mr. Hand aka one of the Strangers that experiments on the humans, and that's actor Richard O'Brien who’s excellent of playing this creepy looking unknown alien, but what really makes him great to watch is that he really didn't need anything he just needed that fedora duster. But it's really in part of Alex Proyas who based the Strangers on Richard O'Brien himself when he first saw him on the Rocky Horror Picture Show, also quoted saying "I had Richard in mind physically when I wrote the character, because I had these strange, bald-looking men with an ethereal, androgynous quality". And when Proyas visited London to cast for the movie he met O'Brien and found him suitable for the role, so yeah talk about fate reaching out to an extended hand. Out of all the monthly movies I recommend this is one of those films that's a long-lost masterpiece and it truly needs to be seen furthermore to be appreciated again, so if you have the time to pick a movie to watch on a local movie night. Then I would highly recommend watching Dark City.

          

 

                  

The Northman

 

                                   If you know me as well as you've read my blog, I'm a sucker for some of these historical warrior clan type films from Gladiator to Kingdom of Heaven, and so this movie I felt intrigued to watch because it's a movie about Viking's and it has revenge in the mix so why not give this a chance. And to be fair I was expecting a bit on the predictability side to it, but once I started emerging myself into the Viking world it was a bit on the weird and don't know what to make of it but then realizing that this was something special and most importantly something I've never seen before. The Northman is a passion project that actor Alexander Skarsgard wanted to do, as he made it clear he always wanted to make a Viking movie, though as an actor he couldn't get the right story going so he brought in a writer director Robert Eggers to help him bring his passion project to life and along comes The Northman for which is a blend of both Viking lore and Shakespeare's Hamlet.

                                   Prince Amleth (Alexander Skarsgard) is on the verge of becoming a man when his father (Ethan Hawke) is brutally murdered by his uncle (Claes Bang), who kidnaps the boy's mother (Nicole Kidman). Two decades later, Amleth is now a Viking who raids Slavic villages. He soon meets a seeress who reminds him of his vow--save his mother, kill his uncle, avenge his father.

                                    Why haven’t you seen many great Viking stories over the years? In all truth, I think it's because they always viewed Vikings as mindless brutes who don't care anything but raid and slaughter many villages. For which yes, it's true but I believe there's a lot of intriguing stories to tell not just making Marvel films for Thor, and to be fair I was wanting to watch the TV show Vikings, though I have a good reason I'm very lazy when it comes to binge TV and sometimes, I need to turn my brain off sometimes. Okay, back to normal topic I heard some good things about the film and as always it seemed intriguing mainly because it has a great supporting cast in Nicole Kidman, Ethan Hawke and Anya Taylor-Joy and a sort of famous Icelandic singer Bjork who wore a swan for a dress (kind of like Lady Gaga before Lady Gaga). And so, watching the movie I must admit was something I'd never quite experience and there was something about this film that gave it both an epic feel to it and a more horrific feel as well, in all honesty I sometimes have the sense that Vikings took a lot of acid, but that's just my opinion. The best way to describe the greatness of this film is basically talking about both collaborators who brought the film to life Alexander Skarsgard aka brother to Pennywise aka Bill Skarsgard, and writer/director Robert Eggers. This is pretty much the first and only time I ever watch a film and could say that one particular star was the center piece of the whole movie and Mr. Skarsgard was really the fore front of making this movie for me, I mean he really did a great job embodying what a Viking should look like moreover show off his ability to question his fate and why he must do also doing a great job playing a Viking/Hamlet who's set for revenge. Robert Eggers who has made past films, such as The Witch and The Lighthouse both films that seem pay a lot of tribute to their folklore when it comes to his films, and granted I haven't seen his past work so this was the first time I actually sat down and watched the Northman from beginning to end, and really the way he was able to blend Norse Mythology to a epic revenge film, it brought a lot of what I like to call twisted excitement to the film with both scared and intrigued when it came to watching the film, furthermore both Skarsgard and Eggers do a great job in bringing this Hamlet like story to life. Now I'm not sure now I want to watch Eggers past work because in fairness I don't want the excitement of this movie be a buzz kill to watching the past work. Now, I'll say again I'm a sucker for these kind of epic warrior films and, there was something about this film that brought a lot of fun/excitement with scariness to go along as well, so if you’re into Shakespeare and Norse Mythology I would highly recommend watching The Northman. 

  

                                           

The Boys

 

                         Just finished wrapping up my viewing of The Boys, season 3. Although feel a little bit sad I feel the time is now that I go ahead and talk about what I like to call, is the G.O.A.T of all things Superhero TV shows. The Boys is what I like to call a breath of fresh air sometimes, it's really one of those shows where you just feel sick and tired of the same thing from the MCU, feeling more frustrated of how Warner Bros. is not making a great Superman movie nor getting their s**t together. Well, The Boys is that show were it just brings out so much dark comedy that you want with a lot and well boat loads of WTF moments that makes Ridley Scott wave the white flag and say enough is enough. So, hope you had a nice meal and finished your session with your therapist, let’s talk about The Boys.

                       Superheroes are often popular celebrities, as influential as politicians, and sometimes even as revered as gods. But that's when they're using their powers for good. What happens when the heroes go rogue and start abusing their powers? When it's the powerless against the super powerful, the Boys head out on a heroic quest to expose the truth about the Seven and Vought, the multibillion-dollar conglomerate that manages the superheroes and covers up their dirty secrets. 

                        On a quick note, the series is based on an actual comic co-created by Garth Enns (who written a great Punisher series, as well as created The Preacher comic) and Darick Robertson, now how they were able to convince publisher's to bring this great masterpiece to life, who knows all I can say is I read a good chunk of the series and it's great a read while it's amazing to watch on Amazon Prime. To be honest we as a generation always have that one piece of comic that really exploits the era or decade, we're living in the 80's they had Batman: The Dark Knight Returns and the Killing Joke as well as Watchmen and 90's there was Batman: Knightfall and the Death of Superman and well the 2000's we have this great piece of work, and sure enough the show finally gets developed. Although yeah Dark Knight Returns and Watchmen are great literature but really the difference, is that this is more of a corporate consuming along with the Superheroes having more of an egotistical problem who really don't care about the people they save just caring about the public image they sell. And really, that's what makes both the comic and TV show so fascinating to endure because this is exactly what you really want to have when it comes to watching Superheroes as well as reading the comic because we now live in a world where corporations are now the big man on campus, and they really control the government. Okay, so now let's get on with the Show, in all honesty I really don't know how I decided to sit down and first watch the show, I think it was one of those things where me and my brother and I think my brother said that Karl Urban aka Pathfinder is staring in this bizarre superhero show and that was enough to sell me in terms of pitching a show for me to binge watch. I don't think we can talk about the greatness of the show without talking about Karl Urban and Anthony Starr who really are the main protagonist and antagonist of the show and the co-stars that help them become what they are. They’re a lot of films I recognize Karl Urban and in truth he's always played the co-star to every film moreover was just the side character, this is defiantly the first TV show where he's the star of the show where he shines and hogs the spotlight and tells his co-stars to piss off, because no matter if he's in the scene or not in the scene he still is awesome as Billy Butcher and to be honest if it were me I'd give him an award for scene stealing. Though yeah, I would rank him as an Anti-Hero, but he does such a great job playing an a**hole who you'd want to punch in the face but then shows sensitive side when you get to know his back story, and Urban does a great job in playing both sides of an a**hole then a caring a**hole. While Karl Urban's character is the a**hole that you want to have on your side, Anthony Starr who plays the Evil Superman aka Homelander does a fantastic job playing this egotistical psychopathic villain that is just so disgustingly evil that you can't even bare to look at him because of how many skeletons he has in his closet, but then is kind of funny when shows his insecurities as well. And both actors both do a great job playing off each other though Starr really doesn't need anyone to help him be a monster to be honest, just Urban's allies are the ones who help him be the man he needs. Jack Quaid aka Dennis Quaid's son, who is kind of the real protagonist of the show because he's in a sense the first person you meet to go on this journey of madness, and really what makes his character great is that at first, he all for this revenge fueled rampage but then meets this one woman, who gives him hope while she is helped by Quaid to feel strong and secure. And really both Quaid and Erin Moriarty who plays Starlight (the sort of Super Girl inspired character) does a great job playing the love couple we all want to end up in the end of the show though we're not sure through the course of the show. Okay, I'm officially going to end this once and for all because I don't want to spoil anything, full disclosure I would review each of the seasons as I did with my review of The Mandalorian, though I'm not sure I want to for many reasons I might need to see a therapist if I go back and re-watch the season so until I the seasons over I might binge it again. But hands down this is one of the G.O.A.T’s of all Superhero shows second is basically a tie with Daredevil and The Punisher, so in all honesty this is a show if you’re tired of watching MCU and DC films this is a show that will make you feel so refreshed by the end of the viewing.

     

                               

L.A. Wars

 

                                   This is probably one of the first and maybe the last times I ever have the thought of watching a movie that YouTube sensation Red Letter Media reviews, though granted when I saw that this film was on TUBI, aka cheap imitation to Netflix streaming service. I thought, oh cool this might be worth something to watch, well yes at first but then I slowly realize it’s also a little bit of no, towards this B-Movie action flick. L.A. Wars is, I guess a mix of every gangster movie with a little bit of both Beverly Hills Cop and Lethal Weapon, for which I can see Hollywood looking through this script and then just saying to the writers and filmmakers sure you can make this film for a cheap sum of money for finance, because even the producers who were reading this script obviously knew that this was on the crap scale.

                                   Raul Guzman, a small-time drug dealer, starts a gang war in Los Angeles when he takes on Giovani, the most powerful Mob boss in the city. Former police decide to intervene in the escalating conflict.

                                    In most B-movies there somewhat fascinating, in a strange way. For many reasons I guess when it comes to Hollywood their obviously looking for like the trend movie like first there was The Godfather in the seventy's then it was Scarface in the early eighty's then we had the cop films like Lethal Weapon and Beverly Hills Cop then producers of whoever financed it because I'm confident it wasn't a major Hollywood Studio so it's obviously maybe independent or running out of money studio, then they all decided okay lets combine all four movies together set it in the worst part of L.A. and make a movie, for which in all honesty makes the most sense when you think about it. The other thing is when it comes to lame cheesy action movies is why are they using so much cardboard boxes? Because the last time I watched Mystery Science Theater 3000 they had a movie called Future War and they set an entire fight scene in a cardboard factory and watching this film it's kind of hilarious watching two kickboxers fighting while there's old cardboard boxes lying around which is funny, but I don't understand the purpose, maybe because its cheap to break? Though when you think about it, they couldn't afford any stunt men, nor any of the padding for protection so I guess in fairness they had to of used cardboard boxes to protect their actors, in the cheapest way possible. With all of the B-movie cliché's that make this film funny, what makes this film unbearable to watch is the lead actor whose name is Vince Murdocco, whom I think is one of the worst actors to ever play a hero type character for many reasons he plays a cop that literally sucks at his job because he prefers killing the bad guys rather than solving actual crimes now if he was a soldier that suffered PTSD, I can get by that but him making inexcusable reasons as to why he slaughter so many bad guys is just so madding to even watch, that full disclosure I had to finish this film within two days which him being the star of the film was just way too hard to even see because I was screaming to shut him up. After watching this decent bad movie I've learned a valuable lesson, leave it to the professionals who insist on watching bad movies for a living like Red Letter Media and Mystery Science Theater 3000. Now as a movie itself, we’ll all I can say is, that's it's on TUBI and the service is free so if you feel adventurous and want to take a step on the wild side and see how accurate Los Angeles is in terms of a crummy s**ty city it still is to this day, have fun and go crazy folks but if you find Vince Murdocco's performance unbearable to watch I totally understand.  

  

                                      

Once Upon a Time in Hollywood

 

                                    There are times when you have a bad day or hear some bad news going on in the world there's really and only one man that can come in and save the day for you. That man is Quentin Tarantino, well unfortunately he doesn't come as an individual person, but his movies in general is what saves the day for any individual whose down and depressed about their jobs or lifestyle. And his 9th film is without a doubt a movie that will give you hope and joy as you cease the next day. Once Upon a Time in Hollywood is a film that in a sense yes is about three hours long but is worth every minute and more importantly Mr. Tarantino goes back in time to alter time where the Mansion Cult finally get their comeuppances. Staring Leo DiCaprio and Brad Pitt in one of the finest performances of a lifetime which is why he won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor. Now having watched this I will defiantly need to have my dad watch this great movie because he's a big fan of Inglorious Bastards. 

                                    Actor Rick Dalton (Leonardo DiCaprio) gained fame and fortune by staring in 1950's Television Westerns but is now struggling to find meaningful work in a Hollywood that he doesn't recognize anymore. He spends most of his time drinking and palling around with Cliff Booth (Brad Pitt), his easygoing best friend and longtime stunt double. Rick also happens to live next door to Roman Polanski and Sharon Tate (Margot Robbie) -- the filmmaker and budding actress whose futures will forever be altered by members of the Manson Family.

                                    I think the last time I watched this great movie, was probably when the film was released despite the theater, I was going just suffered a bizarre flooding and it also smelled bad at times. In all honesty the movie itself, is a bit of Tarantino repeating himself from the toe fetish, narration and let’s not forget the panning of a beautiful woman oh, I almost forgot altering the timeline of historical events. Though in fairness the film itself comprehends itself was some great moments along with some great storytelling as well, and for a close three-hour long film yeah it takes a long time to make the slow turns but then it gets into high gear during midst of the second and final act of the film. The movie does blend a great story with historical events that happened, but with a blend of poetic justice, and that's where we go ahead and talk about the Manson Family's involvement in the movie because when I first saw the previews of the film of course I was on board to seeing the movie but I had no clue about the murders Charles Manson's followers have done in the year of 1969 for which cause the loss of Sharon Tate whose in the movie, now at that time learning about that I wasn't sure if this was going to be good or not I did have my suspicions now questions about that but when I heard that Sharon Tate's sister loved the movie I was like okay so, its fine to witness at least as long as the sister to the late Sharon Tate loved it. For which leads to all the way back to when I was sitting in the movie theater and realize now I understand why she loved the movie, it was basic poetic justice in the murderers to Sharon Tate getting their comeuppance. Which I'll admit, when I first saw the movie I honestly didn't know what to think of it at first because this was again repeating Inglorious Bastards, but then when I watched it now I suddenly had a change of heart because in fairness what the Manson Cult did was unforgivable so, I think it's time that we had a movie where they suffered the worst possible death by a bunch of awesome actors like Pitt and DiCaprio. Quentin actually does a fantastic job with the story in blending both the times changing with poetic justice, moreover what the story really focuses on is both men who've had high success in Hollywood but soon gets a crash course of reality when the Hollywood soon begins to change and even the don't recognize it anymore, in addition I believe we all can relate to that concept even if you don't live in Hollywood, because I watch movies all the time moreover was born in a time when movies were fun to watch, as well as movie that come out now I find at times unwatchable for many reasons their the same thing and are nothing new, so yeah I wouldn't say I understand it from a filmmaker or actor's perspective but can relate to it in a different angle. If I had to pick an actor who really was the best part of the whole was no question Brad Pitt, I mean that whole character that he created along with Quentin Tarantino was just pure awesome especially in one of the scenes where I was fearing for my life because almost thought he was going to die but was okay in the end though he punches a hippie, for which you can't beat that. I will say for a guy in his mid-fifties I have to say he does a great job making himself look good shirtless, I mean watching him on screen I almost forgot that this man is on the brink of oldness though to be fair that's not stopping this guy. Margot Robbie does a great job playing the late Sharon Tate, although despite very little of screen time she as I will always dig her sixties dancing. I think if there is any life lessons Quentin Tarantino has ever taught me not to do when it comes to his movies, it's always never pick up any hippie chicks and Margaret Qualley's performance as one of the Manson girls just gave me enough evidence to just say no, though not to judge but I mean when you pick up a hippie chick that hasn't showered for days moreover have armpit hair maybe haven't brushed their teeth, then I'm just going to hit the gas pedal and drive as fast as I can, because the answer to life is always say no to drugs. Even though the film is three hours long with some stuff they could have cut out, I can still say that the film is always a great one to put on and watch from start to finish, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood is defiantly one of those films, I would rank in the top ten of movies that can put you in a good mood.

       

The Queen's Gambit

 

                           One of the very few times other than the Witcher I binge on Netflix, and strangely enough this was the first time I watch a show where chess is exciting for once. In all fairness I wasn't really paying attention much to upcoming shows other than The Boys and Witcher, for understandable reasons Pandemic was kicking my ass and I was in thoughts of becoming Thanos, if you take by meaning. The Queen's Gambit, is what I like to call a, well in all honesty it’s a coming of age story but I guess when you think about it more like a coming of age story with some interest mainly because a lot of what the chess sequences is the fascinating part the other part I have to say is a bit on the meh side but I have to say is a decent quality Netflix series, staring the ever beautiful Anya Taylor-Joy and Moses Ingram who was one of the baddies in the Obi-Wan TV series, and lots of other unknowns. 

                           Set during the Cold War era, orphaned chess prodigy Beth Harmon (Anya Taylor-Joy) struggles with addiction in a quest to become the greatest chess player in the world.

                            You know the term Sex, Drugs and Rock & Roll? Well, I honestly never thought they can upgrade chess with sex and drugs until I watched this show. In terms of acting wise there's really not a whole lot to say when it comes to Anya Taylor-Joy, and what she does very well is show this woman from a young age learning all the values of life, first as a young girl she seems confused then finds a purpose in life when she first discovers chess but then she begins to realize what a gift she has in terms of finding her opponents weakness, then through the course of her teenage/adult life she begins not make some of the best choices in life but hey neither did Darryl Strawberry but he the guy at least found his calling in the Catholic faith. Moreover, overusing so much alcohol and pills for which again this rest my case about a chess player bringing sex and drugs to world of chess, I'm kind of curious now is any other chess players use booze and drugs to get ready for a chess match. Furthermore Anya Taylor-Joy does such a great job throughout the show being a bit of a shy girl to a confident and sexy woman through the course of the show and she really does such a great job at that, the other actor I will say does a great job in the show as well is Bill Camp who plays the mentor who guides Beth into the world of Chess, and granted he has only two episodes of spotlight, he does a great job all the way through. If there was anything negative I can say about the show is probably the awkward sex that happens during episodes five and six and well, also four I should include that with when she's experimenting with weed, but then she reconnects with some of the guys that she beats and they of course hook up, but as an audience member it just felt way to awkward and I mean Taylor-Joy is too attractive for some of those guys and to be honest she deserve much better just saying, but granted this is a TV show, but in all fairness the real interesting part of this show is the Chess sequences and her character for which they really should of focused more on that then all the dudes who got beat by her and years later they wanted to hook up with her, which is just way to awkward for me. Although all of it is saved during the last episode where she goes to Moscow and face off with the Russian's which to me, I was into the most. In all honesty all of the chess sequences and the character of Beth Harman are interesting and if they focused more of that than having these awkward sex scenes, aftermath I guess I would be interested with this show more or re-watch it again, but really the show itself felt real slow at times and really took me a long time to watch the whole mini-series, but I will admit it’s an interesting show to watch and you'll get some great moments but then I think I'm pretty much, better off not watching the show again unless I feel like wanting to watch it again.